


Fever

by Marmeladeskies



Series: Three Antari get on a boat... (A Shades of Magic fic collection) [5]
Category: Shades of Magic - V. E. Schwab
Genre: Brothers, Cuties, sick!fic, they're KIDS, tumblr prompt fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-23 17:14:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14938494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marmeladeskies/pseuds/Marmeladeskies
Summary: All children get sick, even if they're magic.





	Fever

**Author's Note:**

> anon prompt fill :)

It started with a headache, and then a stuffed nose, both more annoying than anything else; even _Antari_ did fall ill sometimes, after all. 

White London’s cold, the wind, the hostile environment… maybe that was where it came from. Maybe it was some kind of bad magic. Maybe it was just a simple cold. 

When Kell stepped through the veil between the worlds, his London, warm and full of Magic, turned upside down, and then black as he keeled over.

-

“Kell?”

Rhy’s sparrow-like voice was soft and tentative, and yet, it was the only one that managed to pull Kell out of his fevered dreams. 

“Rhy?”

“Oh, you’re alive!” Kell blinked, once, twice, and through the white, heavy fog in his mind, he saw his brother, perched on the edge of Kell’s bed, Kell’s hand in his, looking even paler than usual against Rhy’s deep brown. 

Kell wanted to say something, anything, but his tongue seemed to stick to the roof of his mouth. He turned his head, the side of his neck puckering with pain, to see what was fuzzing along the edge of his vision: a toy lion, sewn from soft fabrics, a golden band around its neck. Kell wanted to reach for it, but his hand was too heavy. 

“I brought him because he always helps me when I’m sick.”, Rhy explained dutifully. 

Kell blinked a slow “thank you”. His eyes fell shut again when he heard an adult voice speak behind Rhy.

-

When he woke up the next time, the fog was a bit thinner, but the pain was not. Kell felt like his head was going to split. 

The room was dark, but Kell was unable to tell if it was early morning or late evening. 

Someone sighed, and only then did Kell notice the weight next to him: Rhy, curled up like a kitten, curls spilling over the pillow. 

Kell closed his eyes and fell asleep again.

-

“You know, you vomited all over the floor when you came back!” Rhy sounded much too delighted as he was carefully pouring some water for Kell. 

Kell winced; he hated making messes like that. Weren’t princes supposed to be proper? He barely felt like a prince anyway. 

“Oh, don’t look like that, it was fine. Someone mopped it up, can’t see a spot anymore.”, Rhy quickly calmed him when he saw the look on Kell’s face. “Have some more water. Also, there was a cookie for you, but I accidentally ate it.”

Smiling hurt a little less.

-

Rhy brought board games and card games and toys, and kept complaining about how bored he was all day without Kell around to play with (even though he spent most of his time in Kell’s room anyway). 

-

Years later, Rhy tells Kell that he wasn’t allowed to stay with him at first. The King and Queen feared for their son, afraid that he’d catch whatever White London disease Kell had brought with him.

“You were there, though.”, Kell remarks.

“Yeah.”, Rhy sighs, shrugging, “After I cried for one and a half day, they couldn’t say no to me anymore.”


End file.
